Homeless Heart
by Fangirly2349
Summary: Losing a parent is one thing, but not knowing where your dad is, is even harder.   Semi NaLu fanfic. Love this if you dare! :3


Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters. If I did, well then Natsu and Lucy would've been together by now.

Natsu has always searched for his father. Every year he disappears for a while. No one except Happy goes with him; and no one but Happy knows where he is going. They always look so happy when they leave the guild yet when they return, their faces are dark and sadness is evident in their eyes and expressions. However, the expressions get masked as they "joyfully" join their friends in laughing.

"UGH!" Lucy groaned loudly one day. Natsu and Happy just returned and had started fighting with Gray again. The blonde was sitting at the bar trying to read. Mira kindly smiled at the blonde who was desperately trying to block out the noise.

Without asking Lucy, Mira set down a glass full of Lucy's favourite drink in front of the blonde. She looked up from her book and gave a grateful smile to her white haired friend. Putting her book down, Lucy picked up her drink. The girl took a large gulp of the drink before letting out a satisfied sigh. Unfortunately, her satisfied look disappeared as Natsu flew into her from behind. Her drink spilt all over her new _white_ shirt as she was flung into the counter.

"NATSU, GRAY! KNOCK IT OFF YOU MORONS!" Lucy screeched loudly, flinging Natsu off of her back. The pink and black haired boys shrunk as a _very_ pissed off Lucy glared at them. When Lucy was pissed, she was almost – if not more than – as scary as Erza. Nobody dared to try and calm down the blonde haired celestial mage.

"S-sorry L-Lucy. W-we w-w-won't b-be f-f-fighting a-anymore," the teens stuttered.

"Oh no, you say that now but the moment I go back to reading, you IDIOTS will start fighting again! Do you have any idea how long it took me to earn enough money to buy this shirt? NOW IT'S RUINED ALL THANKS TO YOU JERKWADS! AND PUT ON YOUR CLOTHS GRAY!" Lucy's outburst made everyone cower in fear. Erza definitely was terrifying when she was mad, but her voice could never go as loud as Lucy's. Without pausing, Lucy flung Gray's clothes at him, turned away from the scaredy cats, and marched out of the guild; completely forgetting her book that sat at the bar counter. Nobody dared make a sound until they were certain that the blonde was gone.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Gray put on his clothes while Natsu went over to Mira. Mira ended up being the only one completely unfazed by Lucy's outburst. As Natsu hurried over to the white haired girl, she made sure to clean up the spill from Lucy's drink and make sure the celestial mage's book was okay.

"Natsu, be a dear and take Lucy's book back to her. I doubt she'll return after her outburst," Mira told Natsu, handing him the book. He looked from Mira to the book and back again before bursting out laughing. His laughter was really a cover up to mask his deep terrified emotion towards Lucy at the time. There was no way that he would go and try to give a HARD-COVER book to Lucy when she's pissed. He liked his face the way it was.

Mira could tell that the dragon slayer was going to make up some excuse as to why he didn't wish to go, so before he could, Mira said, "If you give her, her book back, she might not kill you. Also, don't go in through her window. You're less likely to perish that way." Natsu's laughing stopped abruptly. His mouth just hung open in disbelief.

Huffing, Mira walked around the bar counter and pushed Natsu out of the guild. Natsu reluctantly started walking to Lucy's. Happy didn't dare follow his best friend to Lucy's. He also liked living.

As the pink haired teen walked through the streets, he couldn't help wonder what type of story Lucy was reading. He quickly flipped the book over and read the back. Apparently the book had to do with an orphan girl who was desperately searching for her long lost father. And along the way she meets a young boy who shows her that she didn't need to find her father to be happy. Natsu scowled at the book.

"How can anyone be happy not knowing where their father or mother is?" Natsu muttered bitterly.

As Natsu rounded the corner that lead to Lucy's house, he could hear swearing and cursing coming from the blonde's apartment. The dragon slayer gulped. He sent a quick prayer before walking up to the door of Lucy's apartment. His hand shook as he knocked on the door.

The shouting stopped momentarily before a loud voice called out, "Natsu if that's you, I don't want to see you!" Shuttering, Natsu almost turned around and left. But, he had never walked away from a challenge and wasn't going to yet.

"Luce, Mira s-sent me to return y-your book." Natsu cursed himself for stuttering. Slowly but surely, Lucy's door creaked open. There standing in front of him was a puffy eyed blonde with the meanest look alive on her face. Her hand stuck out towards him.

Natsu looked carefully at Lucy and her hand before marching past Lucy and into her apartment. "Hey! Who said you could come in?" Lucy cried as she tried pulling Natsu back. She knew it was feeble but couldn't help and try to get him out. She didn't really want to talk to him at the moment. Whenever he was around her, either she was pissed off out of her mind or laughing her head off like a moron. Usually it was the latter of the two.

The pink haired teen plopped himself down on Lucy's couch and threw the book on the table. Lucy gapped at him in horror. She quickly ran over and grabbed the book off the table. Never had Natsu ever treated something of hers so violently.

Lucy glared at Natsu for a moment before sighing and gently placing her book on the coffee table. She stood up and sat next to Natsu. "All right Natsu, I'm sorry for pissing at you. No need to be so gruff to my stuff okay?" The blonde was hoping that would strike Natsu to say some idiotic comment and make both of them start laughing. However, he remained silent. All he did was glare at Lucy's book.

Gingerly, the celestial mage reached over and touched Natsu's arm, saying, "Come on Natsu. Say something to me." What Lucy wasn't excepting was Natsu to slap her hand away. Her eyes widened in shock as Natsu turned to glare at her. This wasn't the usual Natsu that Lucy had grown to know and... love. This Natsu frightened her to her very core.

"That book is full of crap and shouldn't be read by anyone. I can't be with people who willingly read that _garbage_," Natsu hissed angrily. Suddenly, everything clicked. Today Natsu had returned after unsuccessfully finding his father. It just so happened that the book she was reading dealt with a girl who learnt that there was happiness in her life even without her father.

Lucy's expression softened as Natsu continued to glare at her. Before Natsu could do anything rash, like burn the book and possibly her whole apartment, Lucy hugged the dragon slayer. "It's okay Natsu. You still have me and everyone in the guild. We're not going anywhere and you know it," Lucy whispered into Natsu's pink hair. His shoulders relaxed the more Lucy held him.

The two of them remained like that for a while. Neither of them said anything more. Natsu was embarrassed that he was showing Lucy his weaker side. Heck, he was even crying a bit. Never once had Natsu shown anyone – not even Happy who was always with him – his tears. Only his father had seen them.

"I couldn't find him, Luce. How can I truly be happy if he's not here?" Natsu whispered into Lucy's shoulder. Lucy tenderly rubbed the teenager's back. She knew exactly how he felt. Except he knew that one day he would see his father again. The blonde would never see her mother again.

"It's easy Natsu. Just remember that he's never not with you," Lucy replied. Natsu pulled back a bit from Lucy's hug so he could give her a puzzled looked. The blonde lightly laughed at his adorable face. "My mother told me that no matter what happened to her, she would always be with me. In my heart. When she told me that, I didn't understand. I do now." Natsu seemed to understand what Lucy meant now. He smiled a bit before squishing Lucy in a hug. Lucy was surprised at first but soon hugged the boy back.

Natsu may not always be happy when he returned from looking for his father, but now when he needed cheering up or a reminder that he was never truly alone, he would separate from his usual crowd and visit Lucy. She was his rock or home or whatever. All he knew was that there was no way that he was going to feel lonely with Lucy around him.

"By the way Lucy, have your boobs gotten bigger? They're more squishy than Happy has told me." With that, Natsu was effectively beaten with the book he had hated so much. And, when Happy came to see if Natsu was alive, he was also effectively beaten with the book.

Author's Note:

Hope you all liked this. I was listening to the song Homeless Heart when I wrote this. And sorry if I ruined the mood at the end with Natsu's comment. I couldn't resist. Also, sorry if Natsu seems a bit OOC.

PLEASE REVIEW! YOU BOOST MY SELF-CONFIDENCE BY DOING SO!


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